Here it’s some of the most common questions I had to answer once back home

How was it? How is Africa?Africa is a wonderful land and the trip was amazing. It is still too early to talk about it and tell you everything, I feel I have to absorb the thousands emotions felt over there, understand I am back then I will be ready to start my story.

What did you eat?

Sam, the best chef of the group, cooking

We cooked once a day, at night, when we were stopping somewhere to sleep. Each night two of us had to cook, mainly spaghetti or rise either with tin can vegetables or with fresh vegetables found at the local market. The variety of the vegetables depended on the place we were. Sometimes there were aubergines, sometimes courgettes, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, but often we found ourselves in paces where there was literally nothing on the market stalls. Most of the time we were eating vegetables when we were cooking, as in the group there was vegetarian, but everytime we were eating street food, we, at least I, always tried the local food, meat on a steak, friend bananas, roasted chicken or whatever they were preparing, as it was delicious. Before leaving everyone had recommended me not to eat street food in Africa but I did t and it was great all the time, made with love, and I never got sick once in six month.

A street food stall selling fried bananas

Did you or any of your travel mates ever got sick in Africa?I personally didn’t. I had a bad flue one of the first days of the trip, when we were still in Iceland, due to the cold, and at the FarOer I got an infection in on eye that became all red and stayed like that until France when I got some anti-biotics and finally got better. Since then, incredibly , I never got sick again. I had a stomach ache once for half an afternoon in Cameroon and I felt dizzy for a couple of days in Gabon, maybe because it was too hot or I was too tired, but I never felt badly sick.It was not like this for some of the people who were travelling with me. Two of them got the malaria, whose course was horrible to observe and one was even forced to go back home as she got a dangerous eye infection due to something that went in her eye and was not cured properly. It is in these occasion you understand how difficult life in Africa can be, especially for the locals who don’t have our medicines orvaccinations.

What was the most unforgettable adventure of this trip?

Erna had to fly home for an eyeinection

Talking about malaria, it was that one the most unforgettable adventure of my Africa. One of the girls on the truck, ad my tend mate in the last two months of the trip, got the malaria probably in Congo, but it was in Namibia thatit got worse and worse and after a local doctor told her it was only stomach ache and suggested her to drink a lot coca cola zero with a bit of sugar in order to get better, she decided to go to the hospital to check better. It was the day she got really bad. I went with her at the hospital of Walvis Bay while the rest of the people left to go to see some other sites and come back after a couple of days. At the hospital they immediately found out it was malaria an finally started to cure it. Malaria is scary. I was scared for her, for being the to of us alone in Africa without knowing anything of a sickness that can even bring to death. We made it together. We both spent 3 unforgettable days in the hospital, and while she was fighting malaria, I was taking care of her and in the meanwhile getting to know all the patients and staff of that tiny and efficient hospital, who treated both of us with care and love. When we left that hospital, after 3 days, we both felt like warriors who had just won the war!

What is the most beautiful country you have seen?Geographically speaking it was Cameroun for sure, with its majestic mountains in the middle of the rainy forest, with its dark beaches and its beautiful and friendly people but humanly speaking it was Guinea and Togo, the countries with the most friendly and amazing people met in Africa.Namibia was a pleasure for the eyes as well, so it is for Morocco, but every country left me something to remember forever.

Stunning Cameroun

How did you shower?Showering, or better, washing yourself in Africa is a daily challenge. If we were lucky enough to find some water from a well, we first had to take it out, then put it in a plastic bucket and finally shower, else throwing some cold water on you head to refresh it. You are never totally clean in Africa, and it takes you less than 1 minutes to get dirty again, but the important thing is the feeling: you feel clean after a bucket shower, and even if you dry yourself with a dirty towel afterwards you keep having the best feeling ever.

How did you shower if there was no water?If there was no water, I didn’t shower!

The group, as it left Ghana

How were your travel mates?They were nice people. Of course in a 6 month trip it is impossible to get along with 16 people, there were people I got along better than others. Some of them had never travelled before, and it was sometimes difficult to find a compromise when it was abut deciding if going to go to visit somewhere new or remaning on the same boring beach for another week, some of them had a totally different concept of travelling than mine. Some of them were very particular people I would have never got to talk to if it was not for this trip, some were very childish, some very selfish, some simply great!It was nice to cross Africa with them, but now can’t wait to travel alone, again!